Expander for sheet-metal utensils.



No. 887,727. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908; T. A. KELLY.

EXPANDBR FOR SHEET METAL UTENSILS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PV/TNESSES No. 887,727. PATEN'IED MAY 12, 1908.

T: A. KELLY.

EXPANDER FOR SHEET METAL UTENSILS.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 10,1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 887,727. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. T. A. KELLY.

EXPANDER FOR SHEET METAL UTBNSILS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 10,1907.

Y l s SHEETS-SHEET a [NVENTOP T F W E :5

' UNITED STATES F rst FFIQ.

THOMAS A. K-ELLY, OF MOUNDSVILLE. WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED STATES STAMPING CO., A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

EXPANDER FOE SHEET-mTAL UIENSIIXIS- T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that-I. THOMAS A. KELLY, a

citizen of the United States, residing' at Moundsville, in the county of Marshall and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ex- )anders for Sheet-Metal Utensils; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to means for expanding or imparting to thesides of various kinds of vessels, as culinary utensils and the like,

outwardl curved or bulging sides and is applicable For use upon all utensils made of sheet metal, to which it is desired shall be imparted a graceful, outwardly curved surface, and my object is to provide reliably efiicient means for the accomplishment of this result at a minimum cost of both time and labor.

Other objects antl advantages will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in the claims. I

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application, Figure 1 illustrates in machine ready for uso'showing a vessel beingacted upon by the machine to accomplish the expansion of the walls of said vessel. Fig. 2 is a similar view to that presented in Fig. 1, showing the machine in position to receive a vessel to be expanded.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view ot the members constituting the expansihle body designed to enter thcvessel to be treated and also showing the top plate of the expanding cone removed. Fig. 419. a perspective detail view of a modification of one? of the component elements of my ex )ansible body.

The various details of my invention and cooperating accessoriea will, for convenience, be designated by numerals, and referring in detail to the drawings] andlindicate standards, comprising; parts of the frame. work of my machine, said standards providing means for journalimgthe crank shaft 3, having the controlling gear 4 or equivalent means, it

being understood that said standards are properh connected together in any desired manner to afford a rigid frame for the vertical reciprocation of the cross head 5 in the guide ways 6, or equivalent devices. The

lower ends of t-he standards are bolted to the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 10, 1907.

propery assembled to surround the conical ody 8 and are secured in their operative po- 7 Patented May 12, was.

Serial No. $553,125.

' flange 7 of the expanding cone or body. 8-.

Designed to cooperate with said cone and surround the same, are a plurality of expand ing or spreading members 9, the outer edges of whic are properly curved or sna led to impart the desired form to the vessel to he acted upon, will be hereinafter set liortl The plurality of ex anding devices 9, on. which is illustrated in detail in 4; each provided at its lower end. with the outwardly extending-section or foot 10 and curved seat 11 near the point of union of said extension, while a correspondingly curved seat 12 is provided in the upper end. of each member, said curved portions afiord- $0 mg a continuous annular seat for the co l retaining springs 13 and 14, respectively. 'The lurality of expanding members 9 sition by resting upon the plate 15, which is provided upon its outer edge with the retaming llange 16, held in union with said )latein any oreferred way, preferably by being threaded thereon, shown. I also so provide a plurality of so porting members 17, which extend upward y loosely tl'iroug'h a )ertures in the llanp e 7 and support the plate 15, while their lower ends seated in threaded apertures in the compression plat-e 18,. resting; upon the compressible body it) formed of any suitable substance, as rubber, or properly arranged compression springs (not shown). The compressible body 19 ,is mounted upon the base section 20 99 and is rovided with a central bore to receive the be t or standard 21, the upper end oi which is secured in the base of the conical body 8, while the lower end is attached in any preferred way to the base member 20, as 9 by means'of a nut 22. It will thus be observed from the foregoing description that the plurality of expanding members have a relative movement to the conical member 8,

when pressure is brought to bear upon the 1 is then rotated by means of any suitable source of power and communicates a downward movement to the cross-head 5, through the medium of the piston 23, attached to said cross head by means of brackets 24, or equivalent device.

A vessel enga ing plate is attached to the under side 0 the cross head 5, said plate being provided with a shaperor extension 26 to engage the bottom of the vessel and form depressions or projections thereon orshape the same as may be deemed desirable, it of course being understood that a top plate 27, designed to fit a 'ainst the inside of the bottom of the vesse, is also placed in position below the vessel and rovided with a properly formed upper sur ace to cooperate with the shaper 26, said parts 26 and 27 thereby acting as complementary arts of a die. The member 27 may rest directly upon the contiguous ends of the members 9 and, if desired, may be further sustained in its position by a stem 28 designed to enter a corresponding bore 29 in the upper end of the conical body 8. By suitably shaping or impressing the opposite or contiguous surfaces or faces of the members 26 and 27, it is apparent that the outline or contour thus imparted thereto, may be transferred to the interposed vessel bottom, rendering it unnecessary to iilustrate any preferred detail of such surfaces. Also it is noted that by means of these members, the vessel bottom group of expanding members downwardly,

on, concentric or radial ribs to contact with the-surface or object upon which the vessel may be placed, a; is obvious.

in operation, the vessel to be actcdupon by the expanding members 9, is placed over the group of said members after they have been elevated relative to the conical body 8, which insures that said expanding members, by the action of their controlling springs 13 and-14, will be drawn towards each other, thereby greatiyrci'lucing their circumferential measurement as a group, so that the vessel may be easily slipped over the same. After the vessel has been disposed in its position over said expanding members, the machine is started, which incidentally forces the cross head downwardly, thereby bringing the member 25 to bear firmly upon the bottom of the vessel and carrying said vessel and the thereby, simultaneously moving all of the expanding members J in an outward direction in contact with the straight parallel walls of the vessel and imparting to said walls an outwardly curved condition, according to the configuration of the outer surface of the expanding members.

The adjustment of my machine is so complete and accurate, that one full downward stroke of the piston incident to the rotation of the shaft 3, will be suilicient to complete the expansion of a vessel placed over the group of expanding members and at the group of expanding members, the vessels to beacted upon thereby.

It will be clearly apparent that when the pressure of the cross head is removed from the assembled group of expanded members and the vessel disposed thereon, said group of expanding members are carried upward to their normally elevated position, by the expanding action of thecompressible body section 19, formed of rubber, hr the like, as before stated, through. the mediation of the supporting members 1'7. Theretaining flange 16 disposed upon the plate 15 is so formed as to provide a sufficient, annular space 16 to afford the requisite play for the extensions or feet of the assembled expanding members 9, when said members are forced downwardly in engagement with tile conical body 8. When the assembled group of expanding members is elevated, the compression springs 13 and 14 will draw them together in closely assembled form, as shown in Fig. 2, thus permitting the vessel to be readily lifted off and replaced by another vessel to be treated.

The body 8 is tapered adjacent its upper andlower end, while the central portion of the periphery thereof is vertical and the inner faces of the members 9 are accordingly tapered, the object in so arranging the body and members being to provide equal pressure on the members 9 and causing them to work in and out squarely and thereby )reventing the members from tilting as the body 8 is being entered therebetwecn.

. Believing that the advantages and manner of using my improved expanding machine have thus beei-rmadc clearly apparent, further description is deemed unnecessary.

While I have described the preferred construction and combination of parts, I desire to comprehend such equivalents and substitutes as may fall fairly in the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a fixed conical member having its apex upward, c'omplcmental die-members for shaping the bottom of a metal utensil, a resilient member, a plurality of expanding members, a supporting base-member for said expanding members, means effecting connection. between said bascmember and said resilient member, and. means for carrying said complemental die-members, said conical member having upper and lower inclined surfaces of ,graduatod (llfUl'lQtOIS, with an intermediate cylindrical surface and said. expanding monibers having corresponding surfaces engaged by the aforesaid surfaces of said conical member.

2. In a machine of the character described, a fixed conical member having its apex up-- ward, complementary die-members for shaping the botto of a metal vessel, means for carrying said complemental die-members, a resilient member, a plurality of expanding members, .a supporting base-member for said expanding members, means for effecting connectionbetween said resilient. member and said base-member, said expanding members having their upper ends downwardly recessed and thus adapted to receive the means carrying the lower one of said complemental diemembers.

3. In a machine for shaping the sidewalls of a sheet metal vessel, a conical member having its apex upward, a suitable frame for its su ort and a compressible bod said conical member being connected to and superposed with relation to said compressible body, a plurality of outward, movable ex anding members, a supporting base rnern s her having a slidable connection with said compressible body and carrying said expan ing members and means to force the group of expanding members downwardly, whereby a vessel placed over said group o expanding members will be acted upon the. by and have its walls outwardly bulged and its bottom simultaneously formed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS A. KELLY,

Witnesses:

J. M. SANDERS, J. E Snore. 

